Description
Baked broccoli mac and cheese with a creamy cheddar sauce, fresh broccoli, and crispy topping. Easy, lighter recipe that stays creamy after baking.
Ingredients
Scale
Macaroni
- 8 ounces macaroni
- 2 cups broccoli, chopped small
Cheese Sauce
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Crispy Topping
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease an 8×8-inch baking dish.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the macaroni according to package directions until al dente. When there’s 2 minutes left, add in the broccoli. Drain.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, and cook about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the broth and milk, making sure the flour is fully incorporated and there are no lumps. Season with the garlic powder. Bring to a simmer, and simmer about 2-3 minutes, whisking often, until slightly thickened. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat.
- Stir the cheddar and parmesan until melted. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste.
- Gently stir in the cooked macaroni and broccoli, until fully coated. Pour into the prepared baking dish and set aside. The cheese sauce will look loose when mixing it with the pasta and broccoli. It will thicken up as it bakes.
- In a small bowl, stir together the panko bread crumbs, grated parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper. Evenly sprinkle over the macaroni and broccoli mixture.
- Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until the topping is golden and macaroni is bubbling.
- Serve immediately for the most creamy texture and enjoy!
Notes
Grate the cheese yourself for the creamiest sauce. Pre-shredded cheese works, but it doesn’t melt as smoothly and can be slightly clumpy.
Nutritional Values (per serving) are approximates only. Calculated with 2% milk.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 611
- Sugar: 7.3 g
- Sodium: 876 mg
- Fat: 26.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 13.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 65.4 g
- Fiber: 3.7 g
- Protein: 27.3 g
- Cholesterol: 63.8 mg